Monthly Archives: December 2012

Dec. 31, 2012 – Here is a year-end update on VIX and select options-based indexes — Futures on the CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX®) set a new single-day volume record of 212,800 contracts (estimated) today. The new daily record eclipsed the previous single-day record of 190,081 contracts traded on September 13, 2012. VIX futures are poised […]

Dec. 28, 2012 – Here is an update on 6 key facts about the VIX and related indexes and trading instruments — (1) Today (Friday) the CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX®) rose 16.7%, its biggest one-day up move (in percentage terms) since November 2011. A key factor in the rise in the VIX is investor uncertainty […]

In a recent podcast with Andrew Horowitz from The Disciplined Investor, I discussed what the VIX is, how it is structured and common misconceptions about the index. Click here to listen to the full podcast.

Most of the week Dec VIX futures were at a discount to the spot VIX index. This was despite the November employment report being released on Friday. The market yawned at the report with the S&P 500 finishing up slightly on the week and VIX finished the week basically unchanged. The December contract spent most […]

FRIDAY, DEC. 7 – People often ask me where they can find comparisons of the prices of the popular VIX® (spot) Index and the VIX futures. A good place to start is near the top of the VIX microwebsite at www.cboe.com/VIX , which has the following table that is updated intraday with delayed price quotes […]